Photo Release -- HII Hosts U.S. Senators Durbin and Kaine at Newport News
Shipbuilding
NEWPORT NEWS, Va., July 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls
Industries (NYSE:HII) today hosted U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Tim
Kaine (D-Va.) for a tour of the company's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS)
division. The visit provided an opportunity for Durbin to meet shipbuilders
and see firsthand the complexities of shipbuilding.
Senators Visit
HII President and CEO Mike Petters
(center) discusses the complexities of
shipbuilding with U.S. Sens. Dick
Durbin (left) and Tim Kaine (right)
during a tour of Newport News
Shipbuilding. Photo by Ricky Thompson
A photo accompanying this release is available at
http://media.globenewswire.com/hii/mediagallery.html?pkgid=19984
HII President and CEO Mike Petters accompanied the senators on the shipyard
tour, which included visits in aircraft carrier and submarine construction
facilities and a tour of aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). Ford is
about 62 percent overall complete. The ship's christening is scheduled for
Nov. 9.
"The sophistication and quality of work that is done at Newport News
Shipbuilding on a daily basis always makes a big impression on me," said
Kaine, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012 and serves as a member of
the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Given his critical role on the Defense
Appropriations subcommittee, I was glad to invite my friend Senator Durbin to
meet with Virginia shipbuilders and discuss key issues regarding the nation's
submarine and carrier programs."
Durbin, who was first elected to the Senate in 1996, is the senior Senator
from Illinois. He serves as the assistant majority leader, the second
highest-ranking position in the Senate. Durbin sits on the Senate Judiciary,
Appropriations, Foreign Relations and Rules committees. He is chairman of the
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human
Rights, as well as the Appropriations Committee's Defense subcommittee.
The Illinois senator spoke to reporters after the tour. In speaking about the
defense budget and its impact on employees at NNS, he said, "We've got to make
certain they have continuity of work, not just so that the largest private
employer in the state is maintaining its workforce, but that we have these
skilled shipbuilders available when we need them—and we need them virtually
all of the time."
Petters said the visit by the senators "clearly underscores their
understanding of the importance of our industry to America's defense and
economic health. While the tour at NNS rightly focused on aircraft carriers
and submarines, the accompanying discussion encompassed the HII portfolio of
ships and what they contribute to our nation, to include destroyers,
amphibious assault ships and National Security Cutters."
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) designs, builds and maintains nuclear and
non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and provides after-market
services for military ships around the globe. For more than a century, HII has
built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder at
its Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding divisions. Employing
about 37,000 in Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and California, HII also
provides a wide variety of products and services to the commercial energy
industry and other government customers, including the Department of Energy.
For more information about HII, visit:
*HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com
*HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries
*HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries
CONTACT: Christie Miller
Christine.Miller@HII-co.com
(757) 380-3581
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